In last
month's electronics column, an overview of the new generation of
DSC-equipped VHF radios, we inadvertently left out two models. This month
we're covering them and briefly recapping DSC because we strongly
believe the technology significantly enhances boating safety and convenience.

For
decades, radios have added immeasurable practical advantages and security
to boating. While there have been countless incremental refinements in
the technology over the years, the introduction of DSC represents a giant
step. Briefly stated, DSC condenses the numerous essential elements required
in a distress call into one push of a button. Moreover, the signals transmitted
by DSC are digital. That means that when your DSC radio is interfaced
with your GPS, you can send--in a single electronic message--not
only an alert that your boat is in trouble, but also her position, the
time and date of the transmission, and even crucial identifying information
about your vessel, via her Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number,
which the FCC assigns you when you register your radio. All this is broadcast
automatically and continuously once you hit the button and can be picked
up by the Coast Guard (national DSC transmission coverage is nearly complete)
and any DSC-equipped radio on vessels within range. Obviously, compared
to a conventional radio MAYDAY, during which stress can lead to grave
errors and the time available for the call may be severely limited, a
DSC distress signal is far superior.

But
DSC functions include more than this feature, which you're admittedly
unlikely to ever need. There's also the ability to route messages
directly and exclusively to another vessel (which you identify by entering
its MMSI number), so the days of broadcasting conversations far and wide
that you'd prefer to keep quiet are over. Onto a hot fishing spot
and want to let a friend know its location without attracting the rest
of the fleet? Just send over your MMSI number, your boat name, and a channel
you want him to respond on, and you and your friend can talk over the
fine points in total privacy by using the radio's scrambler option.
Feeling especially magnanimous? You can notify every DSC-equipped radio
in range simultaneously.

Standard
Horizon's Spectrum VHF marine radio boasts all these abilities and
more. Its DSC Standby Mode is like a VHF version of a telephone answering
machine and lets the Spectrum receive and store unanswered calls in a
call-waiting directory that you can review at any time.